Käyttäjän ndiversitybusarelo päiväkirja

I chose the coastal redwood forest as the site for our final field assignment. For my third hike I went to the Reinhardt Redwood Regional Park which is a part of the East Bay Regional Parks System. My 2011 copy of the Moon Outdoors: 101 Great Hikes in the San Francisco Bay Area ranked Reinhardt Redwood Regional Park as one of the best redwood forests in the Bay Area and ranked the Stream, Fern, and West Ridge Trail Loop in the top 10 hikes of the East Bay. The summary of the park stated:
The East Bay’s answer to Muir Woods and Big Basin are the prized redwoods of Redwood Regional Park.
I walked the West Ridge Trail along with the Bridle Trail for an hour before looping back into the Golden Spike Trail for the final portion of my hike. I felt embraced by the lush Ferns and Coast Redwoods of varying sizes and ages that filled the forest. White flowers such as Native Trailing Blackberry, Pacific Ninebark, and Three-Cornered Garlic as well as beautiful pastel blue Broadleaf Forget-Me-Nots decorated the trails like polka dots. I spotted a few birds on my binoculars that I couldn't capture on my camera but I did get a couple of pictures of Button’s Banana Slugs that were sharing the path with hikers. The skies were clear and sunny but the grove of Redwoods accompanied by Mixed Oaks and Eucalyptus provided a cooling canopy. I arrived around 9:30 am and departed around 11:15am with the weather remaining a nice 80 degrees for the entire duration. By the end of my hike, I spotted a few Rainbow Trout hatchlings swimming in the stream nearby.

I chose to complete my field assignment for Module 2 at one of the river, stream, or lake field options. For my second hike I went to Lake Chabot at Anthony Chabot Regional Park. I walked the West Shore Trail along with the Bass Cove Trail which are a part of the East Bay Regional Parks System. When I arrived around 2pm, Chabot park was alive with the sound of chirping birds, buzzing winged insects and several other hikers enjoying the Spring afternoon. On the Oak Woodland trails west of Lake Chabot, I observed a variety of Oaks as well as a few Ferns, Conifers, Palms, California Bay and Eucalyptus trees. Flowers like California Poppies, Lupines, Brodiaeas, Hairy Vetches, Jointed Charlocks and Wild Radish flowers colored the trail with shades of purple, yellow, orange and white. Dragonflies, bumblebees and different butterflies fluttered by, while small lizards roamed upon tree logs. The weather was 60°, slightly windy and partially cloudy when I got to Lake Chabot. By the end of my hike, the sky had cleared and the weather was warm with no breeze.

I chose salt marshes and estuaries as my field site option from Module 1 because in our assigned reading, An Island Called California: An Ecological Introduction to Its Natural Communities by Elna Baker, the author states:
By all standards, San Francisco Bay is the state’s largest and best known estuary.
For my first hike I went to the wetlands of the Hayward Regional Shoreline and walked the Cogswell Marsh Loop Trail which is a part of the East Bay Regional Parks System. When I arrived, the blossoming wildflowers and lush grasses of the near spring were covered in morning dew with Canada Geese scattered across in flocks. I observed Deathcap and Western Destroying Angel mushrooms as well as Mustard flowers and Orange Bush Monkeyflowers growing. The weather was 50 degrees fahrenheit and it sprinkled for most of my visit but it wasn’t windy so birds were still active around the brackish water marsh. By the end of my hike, the sun was starting to come out along with the American Crows in the area.